In a filing in court this week, Amtrak claims that the MBTA has refused to honor its contractual payment obligations and is threatening to cut rail service from Boston to New York and Washington, D.C. because of this legal dispute with the MBTA.
After Amtrak requested nearly $30 million from the MBTA for maintenance it performs along the tracks, the latter sued Amtrak, alleging it was violating an existing agreement.
In a counterclaim, Amtrak claims the MBTA itself is violating part of that agreement by refusing to pay for additional maintenance outside of the money Amtrak has already requested, and that the MBTA owes Amtrak at least $175,106 more.
The dispute stems from the so-called Attleboro agreement. Under a deal signed in 2003, Amtrak has used, maintained, and dispatched trains on the Attleboro line – MBTA-owned tracks between Boston and Rhode Island – in exchange for some dispatch and maintenance services.
But after a federal policy change in 2015 required states to help pay for Amtrak’s work on the tracks along the Northeast Corridor, Amtrak asked the MBTA for nearly $30 million a year for maintenance and dispatching costs. In response to the charge, the MBTA sued Amtrak and the commission that developed the new rule, saying Amtrak would be in breach of an agreement between the two entities, and that the new policy was unconstitutional.
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